Super Mario Bros. Fan Fiction ❯ Question Box ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Question Box: Stage II

Box 12: Only Her Name

It all started on an ordinary day, Lemmy was playing with Iggy near a small pond. The water was crystalline and calm, a soft breeze blew and the sun was shining. Lemmy never thought he would see someone like her that day. One second he was playing tag with Iggy and the next he was hypnotized by her beauty. For the first time as long as he could remember, Lemmy lost his sense of balance completely and fell off the ball he usually rolled around on.

Iggy stopped and gave his brother a surprised look before rushing to help him stand up. "What happened? You never fall like that? By the way, you're still 'it' this doesn't count."

For Lemmy, Iggy's voice was a distant echo as he stared at the young girl swimming in the pond. She was like a shelled angel.

Iggy waved a hand in front of Lemmy. He was staring into the pond with the most absurd expression. He looked strange, yet happy. "Did you hit your head too hard? That silly smile is starting to worry me."

Suddenly, the girl's gaze shifted in their direction and Lemmy was quick to turn around in embarrassment. "Is she looking?"

Iggy raised an eyebrow in confusion, but looking at the pond over his brother's shoulder, he soon realized what he meant. "No, she's swimming around oblivious to the world."

Lemmy let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment.

Iggy had no clue what was going on in his brother's head. "Relax, she's too far to give us cooties."

"It's not that," Lemmy was clearly uncomfortable talking about her. "It's just that..." He didn't finish, he didn't want his brother to feel betrayed. They had agreed that all girls, with the exception of their sister and Peach, had cooties. Though even Wendy sometimes exhibited symptoms of having the fictional decease that was all too real for the boys.

"What is it? You can tell me," Iggy encouraged.

Lemmy felt his cheeks turn red. He stared at his feet, examining the ground with great attention. "It' just..."

'Spit it out already!' Iggy wanted to say. He was caught off guard by his brother's uncharacteristic doubtful behavior.

"I kind of like her," Lemmy confessed, his face continued to turn a deeper shade of red by the second.

Iggy stared at his brother as if he grew a second head. "But she has cooties!"

"Shh! Not so loud, she'll hear us!" Lemmy shyly looked towards the pond. The girl continued to swim around peacefully, floating on her shell. He felt like he could stare at her forever.

"Lemmy!" Iggy's voice snapped him out of his day dream. Iggy pouted and exhibited his best pouty face. "Let's go home." He didn't like what that girl was doing to his brother. She was brainwashing him and turning him into a mindless zombie with her cooties.

"I want to go talk to her. Do you think she'll like me?" Lemmy asked.

Iggy looked upset. "I want to go home, now!"

Lemmy looked towards the girl, then at his brother, back and forth a few times and finally stopped. "Aright, let's go home." Of course he planned to return. He would be back with a plan to talk to the beauty from the pond.

xoxox xox xoxox

Once at the Koopa Castle, Iggy tried to keep Lemmy busy. "Let's play some video games." Surely that would cheer Lemmy up.

Lemmy forced himself to smile. "You go, I think I'm going to... take a nap, I'm tired."

"No you're not," Iggy looked suspicious. Lemmy particularly disliked naps, always being hyper all day long. He never took naps when they were younger, no matter how much Kamek begged him to sleep, and he certainly wasn't going to take a nap now.

"I'm going to talk to King Dad about something... alone," Lemmy added before Iggy could comment on it.

Iggy crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll go play video games with Larry!" He walked away, stomping his feet visibly upset.

"Sorry," Lemmy whispered, but Iggy did not hear him. He went in search of his father who was most likely busy with the kingdom's royal duties at the time, but this was an emergency.

xoxox xox xoxox

"And that is why it is vital for me to kidnap princess Peach Toadstool," Bowser finished his speech. How dare the council question his reasons? Kamek, head of the council should have warned them not to do such a thing. The room was filled with the soft murmurs of koopas, paratroopas, magikoopas and even goombas, commenting on the king's explanation.

Quiet knocking was heard on the door. Bowser looked towards Kamek, who took a quick look around the room. Everyone who was supposed to be there was already there. He glanced at the door then shook his head in reply to Bowser's silent question, indicating that he didn't know who was at the door.

The room was once again filled with quiet murmurs, as the king walked towards the door with a none too happy expression. Who ever had dared to interrupt his meeting better have something very important to say. He opened the door to find his son Lemmy standing there. "This better be important!"

Lemmy looked at his feet and for the second time that day, he appeared to be fascinated by the surface he stood on. "I needed to talk to you," he kept his gaze on the gray stone floor.

Bowser grew more impatient with each passing second. "I'm in a very important meeting. I'm warning you, it better be very important."

Lemmy shyly looked towards the conference room behind his father. The entire royal council was there, as well as representatives from different parts of the Darklands. He couldn't possibly say what he needed to say with all of them listening. He made a movement with his hand that indicated he wanted his father to come closer.

Irritated but curious, Bowser did what his son requested so the young koopaling could whisper whatever he was going to say without anyone else hearing it. Bowser's irritation disappeared as Lemmy spoke in a hushed whisper that only the king was close enough to hear. His face showed a mix of happiness and worry, with a hint of pride.

When he finished narrating the earlier events to his father and communicating his imperative need for advice, Lemmy went back to his previous activity of staring at his feet. A hint of red was starting to appear in his cheeks as he thought about her.

Bowser turned around to face his subjects, who were waiting in the conference room. With a blissful expression he announced that they were done. "Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is cancelled!"

Once again the conference room was filled with murmurs, as Kamek and Kammy exchanged confused looks. The whispers of the crowd were a little louder this time. It was obvious that they were curious to know what the young prince had told his father that was so important.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser had led Lemmy to the royal throne room and closed the doors. It was a process he had done with Ludwig when he came to him with girl related questions. He had noticed girls staring at him and following him around. Ludwig had fan girls before he even knew what a fan girl was. That's when Bowser had a long talk with him in the throne room. Now it was Lemmy's turn. "Sit down," Bowser spointing to the throne.

Lemmy looked at his father a bit surprised that he was being asked to sit in his throne. After a moment of doubt, he quietly sat down. He wondered if he was in for lecture, but his father didn't sound angry. He sounded happy and sad at the same time. It was a combination beyond what Lemmy thought was possible.

The next few minutes passed slowly as Bower went into a long speech that mostly revolved around Peach. Lemmy failed to notice how all of that was related to his situation. "In conclusion, if you like this girl, you need to let her know and she will come to you. If she doesn't, then invite her over to make it obvious that you want to spend time with her. If she says no, simply kidnap her. Do you understand?"

Lemmy nodded slowly, "I think so."

"Good, you can go now. Don't forget to beware of fan girls, they are very dangerous, but if this girl is normal, then it's safe to attempt a kidnapping," Bowser warned.

Lemmy gave his father another nod, acknowledging his last statement, and hopped off the throne. He started walking towards the door.

Lemmy was half way across the large throne room, when he felt his father pick him up and hug him. "My little Lemmy is growing up!"

Lemmy blinked, then stared, then blinked again. "King Dad... Are you feeling alright?"

Bowser put Lemmy down. "Of course, I'm perfectly fine."

"If you say so," Lemmy left the throne room and wondered if he should follow his father's advice. He wasn't sure if that girl from the pond would be too happy to get kidnapped. He wondered if she was even still there. The water pond in question was a long way from the Koopa Castle since the only ponds near it were made of lava instead of water.

Maybe the entire kidnapping deal was something his father would do in an attempt to impress princess Peach but maybe it didn't work that way anymore. Maybe it was a something that belonged to their generation only. Lemmy nodded to himself and decided that even if his father was trying to help, his technique may be a little old to work for someone so young. But if his father couldn't guide him, then who could?

xoxox xox xoxox

As he walked along the corridors of the Koopa Castle, music reached him. Lemmy smiled and quickened his pace, following the sounds. Surely his older brother could have more up to date advice to offer. "Ludwig! Ludwig!"

Ludwig instantly stopped playing and let out an exasperated fiery breath. He had received countless interruptions from his siblings that day. If it kept going like that, he would never finish his symphony. "What apprehension may I facilitate you to flee?"

Lemmy's shyness returned full force and once again he stared at his feet. "I wanted to ask you something."

Ludwig looked at his brother with curiosity. "Your conduct is reasonably abnormal. Yet astonishingly, I do not deduce that you ruptured any article."

Lemmy was silent for a moment as his cheeks turned that familiar red color. "It's about a girl."

Ludwig took a moment to process his brother's words; then smiled. "I perceive you are experiencing infatuation, I should have acknowledged it by your expression!"

"I was hoping you could give me some advice. King Dad said I should kidnap her, but I don't think she would like that," Lemmy mused.

Ludwig shook his head. "I have the necessity to vigorously offer my recommendations in opposition to such proceedings. I counsel you to compose a symphony and serenade her."

The idea of writing her a song appeared to make more sense than kidnapping her. However, Ludwig was the only composer in the family. Then again, he did find many secret hand-written poetry books in his father's room when he was sneaking around once. Bowser had firmly denied writing them, but it was his hand writing, Lemmy was sure. "Can you write a song I can use?"

"Preposterous, the melody is obliged to originate from your own inspiration!" Ludwig urged.

"Okay..." Lemmy was disappointed.

"Conceivably, flowers may be adequate," Ludwig suggested.

"Yeah flowers, why didn't I think of that?" Lemmy's dilemma had been solved. How could he miss the most obvious option? "Thanks Ludwig!" He ran off as fast as his legs could carry him to search for flowers.

xoxox xox xoxox

At some point in time during his flower quest, he realized that finding them in the Darklands was impossible. After searching high and low and finding nothing but dry, hot land where no vegetation would grow, Lemmy was about to give up. Then he remembered that girl swimming around with more skill than he thought was possible for any koopa. He smiled at the image in his mind and with renewed energy he continued his quest to find flowers.

Lemmy's journey led him all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom. Surely, there he would find plenty of pretty flowers. The question was what kind of flower was most appropriate. Since he was already in the Mushroom Kingdom, why not ask Peach?

"Princess! Princess!" Toad's panicked voice was heard. He ran towards the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was sitting in her garden surrounded by beautiful flowers. He fell because he was forcing his short legs to move faster than it was possible for them and Peach helped him get up.

"Are you alright, Toad? What's wrong? You sound very alarmed," Peach asked.

"It's terrible! Just terrible! There's a koopaling here to kidnap you!" Toad cried.

"I'm not here to kidnap Peach," Lemmy had made it past the guards and now stood a few feet away from Peach and Toad. "I'm here for advice." For what felt like the millionth time that day, he once again stared at his feet and realized his claws could use a little clipping.

Peach took note of the embarrassed look in Lemmy's face, the red color of his cheeks and how he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, while staring at his feet and the ground below them. No doubt about it, the boy had a crush. "Toad, please allow me to speak with Lemmy in private. Thank you for letting me know he was here."

"Princess?" Toad looked shocked, but Peach's smile convinced him that everything would be okay. He reluctantly left, heading back inside the castle after looking over his shoulder several times during the walk.

"Please follow me," Peach voiced. They walked a short distance to a bench in front of a fountain. "Sit down, let's talk." Lemmy nodded and sat next to her. "Tell me Lemmy, what is her name?"

At first, Lemmy was going to ask what she meant, but suddenly it hit him like a ten ton Chain Chop. Was he being that obvious? "I don't know. I haven't talked to her yet. How did you know it was about a girl?"

Peach continued to smile. "It's pretty obvious really. I can see it written all over your face."

Lemmy was tempted to run to the fountain to look at his reflection in the water and see for himself if his face had changed, but instead he remained seated. If there was really something written on his face, he would have noticed before. "King Dad said I should kidnap her to show I care. Ludwig said a serenade was a better idea, but he couldn't help me with the music because I had to do it myself. So Ludwig said I should give her flowers if I couldn't write a song. It kind of made sense, so I thought it was a good idea. The problem is I couldn't find any flowers. I don't think there are any in the Darklands. I thought that maybe I could find flowers in the Mushroom Kingdom and since you're here, I could ask you to help me pick which flowers to give her."

"I would be very happy to help. In fact, we can use the flowers from my garden. I'll make them into a really nice arrangement." Peach sighed with an unexplained happiness and satisfaction. "Your first crush, how cute!" Skipping along a flowery path, the princess led the way further into the garden.

Not too long after, Lemmy had a bouquet of rare pink roses, which Peach was certain any girl would love, or at least any girl who liked pink as much as she did.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time Lemmy arrived back at the pond, it looked like the girl was about to leave. She was about to climb into a nearby pipe when he called her. "Wait, don't go. I wanted to talk to you. Do you have to leave?"

She nodded in response.

"Will you come back soon?" Lemmy asked.

The girl paused then shook her head.

"Oh... You don't really like me... I brought you some flowers. Take them, I wouldn't know what to do with them anyway," Lemmy sounded heartbroken.

She accepted the flowers and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

His face turned bright red. "So you do like me?"

She nodded and smiled then looked sadly at the pipe.

"I understand, you were just visiting, right? You live far away and have to go home..."

She nodded.

"I guess there's no choice. I'm still happy I met you. I'm Lemmy Koopa, before you go, please tell me your name."

"Squirtle," the girl replied.

Though she had to return to her home, he would never forget her. Lemmy returned to the Koopa Castle and kept telling himself that he might see her again someday. Deep down he knew that their paths would most likely never cross again, but he would always remember her, the beautiful Squirtle.

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

Box 13: Lady Rainbow

Everything appeared to be peaceful in the small koopa village. The sun was shining, the air was warm and the lava was boiling. Everything was set for the start of a good day. Clawdia watched the children play in her backyard. It appeared that she had somehow become the official village babysitter, not that she minded, she liked kids. Everything was calm and happy until a little boy came running to her. The little koopaling looked scared. He stopped out of breath as he tried to call her name. "Claw... Clawdia..."

"Take a beep breath Koopito," Clawdia said to the frightened boy. The koopaling did what he was told, recovering some of the natural color of his face. "That's it, now slow down and tell me what happened."

"My sister, the dragon got her!" No sooner had the boy mentioned the terrible dragon when they were surrounded by curious koopas and scared koopalings. "Go inside the house kids," Clawdia urged. "You too," she told Koopito. She stood at the door and smiled at the koopalings to reassure them they would be alright. "I know I never usually leave you alone, but this is a bit of an emergency. Don't leave the house until I get back. There are cookies and milk in the kitchen in case you want a snack. I'll be back soon." The koopalings nodded, commented about the situation among themselves and told her to hurry back as Clawdia closed the door of her house and went on her way.

"Clawdia, where are you going?" A young koopa asked. He looked like he knew the answer but needed to be sure.

"I'm going to find Koopita. That dragon's been eating koopalings for a long time. It's going to end now. He'll regret coming to this village," Clawdia was determined. The twins Koopito and Koopita lived just outside the village. For the last few months their parents let them walk to her house alone as long as they went straight there and stayed together. They never thought the terrible dragon would come to their village.

Curious koopas surrounded her. "That's insane!" "You'll be killed too!" "He'll eat you just like the he ate the kids!" All that could be heard from the crowd.

"Enough! I can't believe no one is doing anything. Just because the other villages got burned to nothing, doesn't mean it's going to happen to us if we fight the dragon! Besides, I'm can't let him get away with eating all those kids." Ignoring their warnings and protests, Clawdia left the village.

Once outside her village, she ran to the little house where the koopalings' parents lived. They were injured by the dragon's fire but they would recover. She sent a paratroopa that had curiously wandered by to see what the commotion was about to find a magikoopa to heal them and told them Koopito was alright. With no time to waste, she was off to find Koopita.

xoxox xox xoxox

Clawdia saw a fire burning far away in an area she knew was a clearing so it couldn't possibly be from a volcano. The dragon must have gone that way. To gain speed, Clawdia went inside her pink shell and spun around rapidly. She hovered above the ground moving at an amazing speed. She stopped at the entrance to a cave. Just outside the cave a few dry tress were set on fire.

The dragon that was inside the cave heard something and came out. There stood a koopa girl with a pink shell. She had a wild rainbow for hair, held into a ponytail by a pink bow. She also had a matching bow on her tail. "Where are the koopalings?"

"So you're here to save them?" The green dragon was only a little bigger than a koopa, but his tail was far longer and his wings larger than the wings of any paratroopa, plus they had no feathers. "Is this all the village can send? One girl? One person doesn't even make for a small angry mob!" The dragon laughed evilly.

"Enough! Tell me where they are. If it's true you ate them, you'll regret it!" How could that terrible creature eat innocent little koopalings? She just didn't understand.

"What are you going to do, scare me to death with your bad fashion sense? Is that mess of a rainbow natural or did you have a really bad accident with hair dye?" The dragon mocked.

Clawdia fell silent. She took a long pause then let out the loudest koopa roar the dragon had ever heard. With a killer glared she went inside her shell and spun, hitting the dragon, wounding him badly. The dragon gasped for air crushed between the cave wall and the spikes on Clawdia's pink shell. The shell released him, spinning in front of him.

Clawdia stopped and her head arms, legs and tail came out of her shell. "Never make fun of my hair." Hearing a child-like voice coming from deeper into the cave, she hurried to find Koopita and hopefully the koopalings from the other villages.

Defeated, weakened, wounded and with a broken ego, the dragon crawled away and clumsily took flight.

Clawdia was glad to find that the kids were taken prisoner but not eaten. She was heading back to her village with the group of koopalings when she saw an angry mob of koopas heading towards the cave. "You're a bit late," Clawdia and koopas celebrated the koopalings' safe return.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that night at the village, while the koopas from the neighboring villages spoke of their plans to rebuild and make sure their children were always safe, it was revealed what the dragon planed to do. The koopalings had heard of his plans to try to steal the throne from King Bowser as soon as the kids were trained to fight for him. "I'm taking this matter to the king," Clawdia had decided there and then.

The next day her journey around the Darklands began. Thankfully, she wasn't too far away from the Koopa Castle. What she didn't expect was that the dragon would be healed so quickly. "I've been looking all over for you Lady Rainbow," the dragon landed in front of her.

"Are you making fun of my hair again?" Clawdia was ready to teach him another hard lesson if he was.

"No, of course not, I was simply admiring it. No koopa has ever stood up to me like that. Your skill and beauty amazes me. I want you to marry me!" The dragon requested.

Clawdia simply blinked in surprised confusion. "I don't even know your name."

"How rude of me to forget the introductions, my name is Drageno. What might Lady Rainbow be called?"

"My name is Clawdia and my parents had a good reason to give me that name." She showed her long, sharp and perfectly manicured pink claws. Let's just say Drageno got a really good look at them with the cut on his face that went from his forehead all the way down to his neck. She just couldn't forgive someone who hurt children.

"What are you doing?" He roared angrily breathing fire.

She jumped out of the way. "I'm sure you'll want to get healed before your wound bleeds too much. Retreat or else!" Clawdia warned him. Carefully thinking about his decision, Drageno flew away.

A magikoopa that happened to be flying back to the Koopa Castle on his broom witnessed the event. "Good job taking care of that dragon."

"Thanks but I'm not done yet. That was a trap to get him to reveal the location of the captive magikoopa." Clawdia suspected he must have a magikoopa prisoner that healed him so quickly. No magikoopa would heal that tyrant willingly and he should have still been beaten from their last fight. She went inside her shell, spinning after Drageno, staying a little behind as to not be noticed. The magikoopa wasn't sure what was going on but he followed Clawdia.

xoxox xox xoxox

They came to an area with many dry trees. Drageno went inside a large tree trunk and after a bright light he emerged completely healed. "That was a magikoopa healing spell!" The magikoopa following Clawdia recognized the magic.

Drageno noticed he had been followed. He breathed fire, but the magikoopa, who was really Kamek, easily blocked it. That fire was nothing compared to Bowser's flaming temper tantrums when he was little. Knowing he was overpowered and outnumbered Drageno made his escape, flying away at a great speed.

"Is someone out there? Can you let me out of here?" A female voice came from the tree trunk. Kamek and Clawdia curiously but carefully approached and just as they suspected, there was a magikoopa there.

Kamek looked at the markings on the ground. It was a spell to trap magikoopas but he knew how to break it. He chanted ancient words as his wand began to glow. The symbols forming a circle around the female magikoopa began to glow as well, until they vanished. "You're free now."

"Thanks! That dragon chased me in here and kept making me heal him. I'll have to learn that counter spell to escape from things like this. That mean dragon, he burnt my broom too. By the way I'm Kammy who might you be?"

"I'm Kamek."

"I'm Clawdia."

"Well, now that we all know each other, Clawdia I was wondering if you were heading to the Koopa Castle?" Kamek asked.

"Yes, I needed to speak to the king about that dragon. I'll track him down and bring him back if he agrees to have a dungeon cell ready. Furthermore, why hasn't the official kingdom army taken action? Drageno was kidnapping koopalings to train them to fight against King Bowser eventually," Clawdia explained.

"I'm certain that dragon isn't a threat. There is another threat however, but my perditions tell me that it will be a little longer before they are able to find their way back into our world." Kamek quickly stopped, he had revealed too much. "Clawdia, Kammy, I invite you both to the castle. Kammy, I'll teach you that spell in case you need it and Clawdia you can meet King Bowser." Although Kamek didn't say it, he was thinking that Clawdia would make a good queen. She appeared to be quite skilled and brave.

"Sounds good to me," Clawdia agreed. Whether that dragon, according to Kamek, represented a real threat to the kingdom or not wasn't the matter in question. The point was that he kidnapped koopalings and that made Clawdia very upset. She wasn't going to keep quiet about it.

"That would be great, except I don't have a broom," Kammy revealed.

"I'll give you a ride, then you can get a broom at the castle," Kamek offered.

"Do you think we'll all fit?" Kammy inquired.

"Don't worry about me. I'm pretty sure I can keep up from the ground," Clawdia assured.

xoxox xox xoxox

The three journeyed to the Koopa Castle, which wasn't too far away. That spinning shell move of Clawdia's was really something. She had no trouble keeping up with the magikoopas riding on the broom. Upon their arrival, Kamek was informed that Bowser had run off. Clawdia and Kammy were given guest rooms and Kammy soon noticed something was going on.

"Kamek," Kammy found the other magikoopa as he was about to head out.

"Is the broom to your liking?" Kamek asked.

Kammy was carrying the new broom he gave her. "Yes, I like it very much. I was just thinking about my theory."

"What theory would that be?" Kamek asked.

"That you want to play matchmaker for King Bowser and Clawdia," Kammy answered.

"I wouldn't call it match maker. I'll just introduce them and hope for the best. I'm not planning to interfere any more than that," Kamek promised.

"Really? That's too bad. Playing matchmaker would be fun. I have an idea. Why don't we have a ball tonight?" Kammy suggested.

"Bowser doesn't like balls."

"I like balls and so does Clawdia."

"Did you ask her if she likes balls or are you just saying that because you want to have a party?"

"Fine, be that way," Kammy pouted and started walking away.

Kamek sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll have a ball." He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want Kammy to be upset.

"Great, I'll go tell Clawdia," Kammy cheered. Kamek shook his head, more at himself for agreeing than at Kammy, and flew off to find Bowser.

xoxox xox xoxox

There was a knock on the door to Clawdia's guest room. "Come in."

Kammy entered the room and set her broom aside beside the door. "I've come to tell you about tonight's ball!"

"There's a ball? Am I expected to attend?" Clawdia wasn't sure she wanted to be at a ball while Drageno was still out there, but dragons were hard to keep locked up. She would need help from the king or his magikoopa assistant, who could only take action if the king sent him.

"Of course, I'll help you get ready if you want," Kammy offered.

"Sure, I'll need all the help I can get. Maybe you can do something about my hair."

"I think I can take care of it," Kammy then picked up a hairbrush and indicated for Clawdia to sit down. The magikoopa brushed the koopa's rainbow hair until it wasn't wild and spiky anymore. "There you go. You should wear your hair down for the ball."

"It's still a rainbow. I thought you were going to use some kind of magic on it." Clawdia's hair was dark blue, light blue, pink, yellow and green.

"Nah, it looks fine like that. Now you just need a dress." With a wave of her wand, Kammy made a beautiful pink dress appear, laid out on Clawdia's bed. She also made matching heals and diamond jewelry. "I need to get ready too, see you later."

"See ya and thanks."

"You're welcome, enjoy the ball. I know I'm planning to have fun," Kammy then returned to her room to get ready.

Clawdia looked at the dress. It was very nice, although there was no way it would fit with her shell on. It was just for the ball so she would leave her shell in her room and change back into it later. With that decision made, she changed into the dress and put on the shoes and jewelry.

xoxox xox xoxox

Kamek had found Bowser at the edge of the Darkland territories, looking curiously into the distance. The magikoopa had warned him countless times before never to go into the Mushroom Kingdom territory or it may trigger a chain reaction that would bring back those who were to bring disaster to the Koopa Kingdom. They would come when the Koopa Kingdom army went to carry out their plans to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, but until then, until they were ready, it was best to keep a certain distance. "I really don't know what the big deal is about going beyond the Darkland border."

"You must understand that we might not be ready yet," Kamek warned.

"We're the most powerful kingdom of all, of course we're ready," Bowser argued.

"Not yet, we must become more powerful so that we still stand a chance, even if the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes find their way back to our world. Don't forget they destroyed your very first castle," Kamek reminded him.

"I thought I destroyed it when you turned me into a giant with your magic," Bowser recalled.

Kamek thought it was time to change the subject. "There is going to be a ball tonight and you are expected to attend."

"Who gave you permission to throw a ball? I hate balls!" Bowser complained. Could there be anything more boring?

"I know you think they're boring, but there is a visitor you might want to meet. I'm sure you two will be good friends or maybe even more."

"Are you implying that you have plans of playing matchmaker for me?" Bowser sounded displeased.

"I said no such thing. I just thought you might want to meet her, that's all."

Before Bowser could reply, a dragon flew above them carrying a rainbow haired girl in a pink dress and being followed by a magikoopa in a light purple dress. "Let go of me Drageno! Let me go right now!" Clawdia, she couldn't do her spinning shell attack in that dress and he kept dodging when she tried to scratch him.

"Hold on Clawdia I'm coming," Kammy shoot magic in the shape of yellow circles, red triangles and blue squares at Drageno. "Stay still!" She was frustrated to miss every time. Drageno breathed fire towards her, which she avoided, but fell further behind in the chase. She spotted Kamek down below and she assumed the koopa that was with him was Bowser. Kammy saw him long ago when he was little from afar, though Clawdia, who grew up in a small koopa village, had never seen the king. "You're King Bowser, right? You have to go save Clawdia!"

Bowser looked confused. "What exactly is going on here?"

"That was Clawdia being kidnapped by Drageno. She was the girl I wanted you to meet. Why in the world was she in a dress? I don't think the spinning shell attack she did before works like that," Kamek explained.

"I was helping her get ready for the ball so I gave her that dress," Kammy admitted.

"Who are you? Is that Kammy's broom?" Kamek inquired.

"How could you recognize the broom and not me?" Kammy pouted.

"Kammy?" Kamek was surprised.

"A pretty dress and contact lenses is all it takes to stop being Kammy? I'm sill the same Kammy, you know," Kammy continued to pout cutely.

"Oh, I see, you look... um... nice," Kamek blushed.

"While you two flirt, I'll go rescue Clawdia," Bowser ran off, leaving the two magikoopas to suffer with an awkward silence.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser continued running in the direction Drageno had flown away, until he was well past the Darkland border and in Mushroom Kingdom territory. At a clearing filled with flowers, he spotted Drageno and Clawdia. She had apparently forced him to land and now he was pitifully being attacked by mushroom people.

"Let the pretty rainbow lady go!" A young man yelled as he attacked Drageno, who easily threw him aside.

"Evil dragon you'll pay for kidnapping the lady of the rainbow," another mushroom man yelled. He was defeated as easily as the first. Three others followed, being easily cast aside, while Clawdia snuck away.

Bowser watched the scene. This wasn't what he had expected. Sure the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom lived up to their kingdom's name with those mushrooms on their heads, but they weren't as dangerous as Kamek made them sound. Maybe it was just those two legendary heroes he had to worry about, but if they were anything like those toads, taking over the Mushroom Kingdom would be a piece of cake when the time came.

Although, maybe Kamek was right about waiting, why rush it when there were more pleasant things to do than plan a take over a kingdom? It could be so tedious at times. "Hello."

"Hi," Clawdia didn't know who this koopa was or that he happened to be the king.

Drageno noticed Clawdia had sneaked away and was enraged. "King Bowser Koopa? I don't know what you're doing here, but Clawdia, the lady of the rainbow is mine!"

Drageno breathed fire at him but Bowser sent back a counter attack. "You call that a fire breath? I'll show you fire!"

Soon Drageno was roasted. "This can't be! How can a koopa breathe more fire than a dragon?" He coughed up smoke in a pitiful attempt to attack again.

As if on cue, Kamek and Kammy arrived. "Looks like he's weakened, now let's try that spell I told you about," Kamek suggested.

"Ready when you are!" Kammy announced.

"Now!" Kamek signaled. They both send magic at the dragon in the shape of yellow circles, red triangles and blue squares, a classic for magikoopas. The dragon began to shrink until he turned into a lizard, a little bit smaller than a toad. Clawdia smiled satisfied. In that size, a koopaling could easily overpower him if he tried anything again.

While the two magikoopas flew overhead after the dragon was defeated and hurried to run away, the toads that were attempting to fight Drageno before got ready for round two against Bowser. "Let the lady of the rainbow go you terrible koopa!" One of them yelled.

"Yeah! Don't worry Lady Rainbow, we'll save you!" Another called. The other three agreed and got ready to attack Bowser, but they stopped when Clawdia stood in the way.

"I'm a koopa too you know," Clawdia revealed.

The young toads stopped with frozen expressions of surprise and disbelief. "You're a koopa?"

"That can't be! You don't have a shell!" One of them pointed in denial.

"It's in my room. I'm just wearing a dress for a little while," Clawdia explained.

"I can't believe I liked a koopa," one of the mushroom men grimaced.

"Yeah me either," another agreed.

"Yuck koopas!" Another exclaimed. After they each made their complaints, the five young men hastily left. There was no need to risk their lives fighting koopas if there was no Lady Rainbow to save and even more so if the lady of the rainbow turned out to be on of them.

"What's wrong with being a koopa?" Clawdia looking annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Bowser assured. "I should know, I'm their king."

"So you're really King Bowser..."

"That's right, I'm Bowser, king of the koopas."

"You're also late for the ball," Kamek pointed out.

Kammy floated on her broom near by and poked him with her wand. "Be quiet, don't interrupt their moment!"

xoxox xox xoxox

While Bowser and Clawdia walked back to the koopa castle, Kamek and Kammy watched them from the air on their brooms. "What do you think they're talking about?" Kammy whispered.

"I think they want to run off and leave us behind," Kamek theorized.

"If they do, we should let them. A good matchmaker knows when the job is done," Kammy reminded.

"But we didn't really do much," Kamek pointed out.

"We did what needed to be done, we did enough. The secret to good matchmaking is to interfere just enough, not too little and definitely not too much."

End of Stage II

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario or Pokemon.